Prudential's latest annuity rates, announced today, are identical for men and women for the first time. The insurer seems to have "levelled up" women's rates to the figure that men were getting, rather than allowing the two rates to "meet in the middle". Previously, men got more than women.

Under the Pru's new "gender-neutral" rates, a 65-year-old man will see his annual pension income fall by just 1.5pc, while a woman of the same age will get 6.5pc more.

The fall for younger male buyers is more pronounced, however. A 60-year-old man will get 2.5pc less than last week, when Prudential was still quoting different rates for men and women. A woman of the same age will see an increase of 4.5pc.

The differences were calculated by Billy Burrows of Better Retirement Group, who said the variations between different ages meant the introduction of gender-neutral pricing was "more complex than we thought".

Men have traditionally received better annuity incomes because they tend to die earlier. However, under a ruling from the European Court of Justice last year, this practice will be banned from December 21. Men account for the majority of annuity purchases.

Tom McPhail of Hargreaves Lansdown said: "Prudential seems to have effectively levelled up to the male rate. This is not what we were expecting, although it must be said that the Pru was not competitive for conventional annuities in the first place – it prefers to sell its with-profits annuities."

He added that Scottish Widows was also quoting men and women the same rates from today, although it had not announced any actual prices.

Prudential said: "Gender-neutral pricing will apply to all annuity quotations produced from November 12 onwards, as Prudential outlines its timetable for the introduction of the EU Gender Directive. Prudential is moving ahead of so-called ‘G-Day’ on December 21 in order to provide certainty and a definitive timeline for advisers and clients, so they can start considering their options now."